Category: Tip

We often hear from users working with video that has a running timecode burned in to the video image. The most common issue is that the on-screen running timecode doesn’t match up with InqScribe’s default starting point. You can easily resolve this by running a timecode adjustment. However, you may also have a gap in…

One of our users recently asked if it was possible to insert Final Cut Pro-style markers into their InqScribe transcript. Although InqScribe doesn’t support true Final Cut Pro markers yet, you can create a custom Snippet to quickly insert a short note about a video. As an example, let’s say you want to note every…

By now, you may have heard about the security vulnerabilities posed by QuickTime for Windows. Given the security vulnerabilities, if you’re a Windows user, we highly recommend uninstalling QuickTime. What does this mean for Windows InqScribe users? You will still be able to play and transcribe most media that Windows Media Player supports. For more…

Have you ever come across an audio file that won’t play in InqScribe? Although InqScribe supports a wide variety of formats (generally anything that will play in QuickTime 7 or Windows Media player 11), one day you may run into an audio file that won’t play correctly. If this happens, don’t panic, you can usually…

There are quite a few ways to creates subtitles in InqScribe (check out a list of them here). Using the built-in “Save Subtitled QuickTime Movie” option is probably the quickest and easiest, but if you or your colleagues don’t have access to QuickTime 7, sharing the exported video file can be a problem. If you’d…

One of the easiest ways to speed up your transcription process is to setup shortcuts. You don’t have to be a professional transcriptionist to reap the benefits of quick-access commands. Whether you’re a newbie, a casual user, or aspiring to become InqScribe elite, improving your shortcut (and snippet) setup will help center your focus on…

If you work at all with digital video, you’re bound to run into issues of media compatibility. What makes a video incompatible? Will it work in InqScribe? It’s a complicated subject. In this post, we’ll explain a few key terms that should help you understand how digital video works (and sometimes, how it doesn’t work).…

As you may or may not have noticed, Facebook has been making some improvements to its video feature. Part of this campaign includes newly added support for caption/subtitle display. Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Can I use InqScribe to add subtitles to my Facebook video?” The answer: yes, yes you can. The following process…

Sometimes you go to transcribe your video in InqScribe only to find that InqScribe won’t play that video type. InqScribe relies on the QuickTime 7 or Windows Media Player 11 specs for media playback, and is able to play most anything that can be played in those players. But if your media is not supported…

You can easily create Subtitled QuickTime Movies directly in InqScribe, and in general we recommend using QuickTime with InqScribe. However, there is another method to play a subtitled movie by combining your video with an exported subtitle track in Windows Media Player. How you ask? Windows Media Player doesn’t natively support subtitle importation, so we’ll…

Update: In addition to using Dragon as described below, you can now use Apple’s Dictation feature with the InqScribe 2.5 Beta. More information here (sorry, macOS only!). --- When we’re asked about speech recognition software, it’s often from new users hoping to automate their transcription process. Although InqScribe doesn’t include any speech recognition technology, you…

InqScribe is popular among filmmakers for a variety of reasons. In our latest guest blog, Scott Squire shares his workflow to translate and create subtitles for his documentary. by Scott Squire, Independent Producer & InqScribe user Our movie, The Girl Who Knew Too Much is a feature documentary about women’s empowerment, the complexities of globalization…

InqScribe’s integration with Final Cut Pro has made it a popular tool among filmmakers, particularly when their projects require generating subtitles. Sometimes we come across interesting blog posts from users about how they put InqScribe to use. Here’s one from Jessey Dearing of Talking Eyes Media about how he uses InqScribe along with Final Cut…

Filmmakers like InqScribe for a multitude of reasons. In our latest guest blog, Charlie Samuels talks about how he’s using InqScribe on his first film project. I am working on a film documentary about my skateboard team. Even if I make many films after this, Virgin Blacktop will be my opus. I’ve been working on…

We often get inquiries from our users about how to format text as tables in InqScribe. Because InqScribe’s transcript window is “plain text,” it does not support tables. However, we can suggest these methods for converting InqScribe transcripts into table format. Many of our users use the Tab key to delineate columns and the Return…

InqScribe users often work collaboratively. Since InqScribe transcripts are very small files, it’s easy to share them with colleagues -- say, as an email attachment. But media files are usually huge, and unless you have access to a shared server, sharing the media files that go with your transcript can be difficult. Enter InqScribe’s Media…

One of our customers, a professor at a film school, suggested this tip: For those of you used to using industry standard editting software like Final Cut and Avid, you can map “j”, “k”, and “l” with modifier keys to back/pause/forward. Since you need the j/k/l keys for actually inputting text during transcription, you’ll need…

We have done some testing of InqScribe in Apple’s newly released OS 10.7 “Lion,” and we’re continuing to do more. The good news is that everything seems to work fine in Lion, with one easy-to-address caveat. Here is our partial report: InqScribe launches in Lion and will perform the basics — video playback, timecode insertion,…

There was a known bug in InqScribe version 2.0.5 (and earlier) that caused problems with Windows Media Player. The crash report mentions things like “WMP_Provider” and “MediaProxy”. This has been fixed in InqScribe version 2.1. Simply upgrade to the latest version of InqScribe and your problem will be solved. The upgrade is free; you can…

A part of our occasional series highlighting interesting uses of InqScribe In addition to transcriptionists and documentary filmmakers, researchers make up a large portion of InqScribe users. Although, in this case, we hit two of our favorite topics simultaneously: research and education. Alex Gilmore, a professor at the University of Tokyo, just published a book…

If you’re using a corded Microsoft Digital Media keyboard or some multimedia keyboards from other manufacturers (we know of one case from Acer), you might be experiencing odd crashes when you try to run the “Set Up Foot Pedal” wizard or define shortcuts triggers. (This tip is also helpful for others who might be experiencing…

Problem: You want to insert time stamps in your transcript at regular intervals without having to explicitly insert a timecode. Solution 1: The easiest way to do this is to define a shortcut for your Enter key. Here’s how: 1. Open your transcript in InqScribe 2. Select the “Edit” menu->”Edit Snippets...” 3. Click the “Add”…

New in version 2.1 of InqScribe: You can insert timecode series, e.g. “lay down a timecode every 30 seconds,” like this: This is typically used by transcriptionists who need to sync text with the video every n seconds. So you start with an empty transcript, insert the timecodes, then begin transcription. You can insert time…

I don’t want the frame number to appear in my timecode. I want , not . Can I turn it off? For example, I don’t want my timecode to look like this: Instead, I want to remove the last two numbers so it looks like this: --- To remove the frames from your currently open…

You can insert the current time of day into your transcript. This is useful for instance, if you want to take notes while you are recording during a meeting or video shoot. Later when you import the media, you can sync the start time to your video. For example, let’s say you’re shooting an interview,…

If you have text that you are repeatedly typing in your transcript (e.g. analysis codes, or long words), you can create snippets to insert them quickly. Here are some tips: You don’t have to assign a trigger/keyboard shortcut to snippet You can activate the trigger window with <cmd-1> (Mac) or <ctrl-1> (Windows) When the trigger…

Update: this bug is fixed in the 2.1 beta. Get the beta here. If you’re using Final Cut Pro 7 and importing InqScribe-generated FCP XML files, you’re probably pulling your hair out. As of FCP7, any imported subtitles beyond the two minute mark show up with a duration of only one frame. The problem is…

I have an existing InqScribe transcript that uses bracketed timecodes: I want to use unbracketed timecodes: 00:01:23.29 --- Here’s how you can do the conversion: 1. Open the existing transcript in InqScribe. 2. Select “Transcript->Transcript Settings...” from the menu bar. 3. Under the “Inserted Timecode Format:” select “00:01:23.29” from the popup menu. 4. Check the…

InqScribe currently does not support bold text. However, you can use Microsoft Word’s “Find and Replace” feature to bold text. Here’s how you can do that: 1. Export your transcript to Microsoft Word. (You can just cut and paste.) 2. Select “Edit->Replace...”. 3. Click on the triangle next to the “Replace All” button to reveal…